How the late Allan Gray will be remembered depends on who you ask.
Former colleagues and professional investors lionised Gray as a disruptor, someone who upended the SA investment industry and forged a new way of growing money in the country.
But for many young South Africans he remains foremost a philanthropist who changed their lives through scholarships and bursaries.
The 81-year old Gray died on Sunday in Bermuda, reportedly of a heart attack.
Born in East London, he worked for Deloitte in Cape Town and Johannesburg as a chartered accountant after attending university, before joining US asset manager Fidelity in Boston where he was a portfolio manager for almost a decade. He returned to South Africa to found his eponymous investment firm in 1973.
Speaking to Fin24 on Monday, Sandy McGregor, a portfolio manager at Allan Gray and friend of its founder, said that Gray introduced value investing to South Africa. (Value investing focuses on finding underestimated shares that trade for less than the company is really worth.) McGregor became friends with Gray in 1983, and joined his investment management company in 1991.
McGregor said that Gray had a knack for spotting what was important in an investment. "He would choose the one thing that was important in making an investment… He would identify what was significant," he said. "We would have a discussion about a company and he would come and say, 'these are the things you should think about'. That was what he was good at - picking up on the important things."
"What he brought to South Africa, was a focus at looking at companies, rather than the environment that they worked in …His focus would be on the assets that he was buying."
Gray was one of the great disruptors in investment space. "He was always asking questions, questioning everything," McGregor recalled.
When Gray started, value investing was in its infancy. Now many people are doing it, McGregor said.
"Many people learnt from him. He had quite a big effect on the industry." Gray's influence was "tremendous," and long after he left South Africa his thinking was entrenched in the organisation.
One of the leaders in the industry who learnt from Gray was PSG Asset Management CEO Anet Ahern, who started her career at Allan Gray in the 1980s.
She told Fin24 that she learnt about punctuality and professionalism from Gray.
"If you were late for the morning meeting you didn't go in - even if your name was Allan," she said. "He also had a habit of quietly chuckling when he was 'right for the wrong reason' as is often the case in stock picking, and he was also honest and frank about not always getting it right."
She also remembers Gray as a teacher. "He was generous with his learnings and produced taped recordings of lessons on value investing which the staff applied to their personal portfolios."
Passionate about education
McGregor said that Gray had always intended to give away his money.
"When I first met him, he had already been talking about giving all his money away and long before he earned it. It has always been an agenda of his to do this," McGregor said. In recent years, he transferred his holding in Allan Gray to the Allan & Gill Gray Foundation. The foundation was founded by Gray and his wife in 1979.
Then in 2005, Gray gave more than R1bn to start the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, which awards scholarships to some of SA's top schools - including Parktown Girls’ High School, Michaelhouse, Bishops Diocesan College and St Cyprian’s High School - as well as university bursaries.
Gray himself was a beneficiary of a good education, which made it natural for him to focus on the education system by starting the Allan Gray Orbis Foundation, McGregor said. "He was a great believer of education." Gray had graduated from both Rhodes University and Harvard, with an MBA.
According to the Allan Gray Orbis website, there are 325 graduated fellows. Scholarships are awarded to pupils as early as grade 7.
On Monday, many beneficiaries of Allan Gray's philanthropic ventures responded to the founder's death on Twitter, sharing how their lives were changed:
When I finished matric, I waited to hear if I’d received the Allan Gray-Orbis Foundation Fellowship so I could go study at Wits. I had only ever applied to that one scholarship. The odds were against me throughout high school as a poor Black kid. That scholarship changed my life.
— Rufaro* (@Rufaro_Samanga) November 11, 2019
Access to spaces I would have otherwise never engaged with is one of the things I’m most grateful to Ntate Allan Gray for. In a lot of ways I escaped the reality of being a kid in a struggling family because of his vision. Salute ???
— The Tall Smurf (@THATGUY_Zie) November 11, 2019
You saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I will forever be grateful for your investment in my personal development.As an Allan Gray Fellow, I promise that the seed you planted in me will come onto fruition and MULTIPLY.Rest in Eternal Peace ????♥??? https://t.co/EsvWjqSNtj pic.twitter.com/aqOIxdJExV
— Nhlanzeko Khanyile ?? (@Nhlanzeko) November 11, 2019
Allan Gray.. Will forever be grateful for his generosity and vision.. I have made life long best friends.. Have access to genuinely the best network of young professionals in the African continent..
— Sinesipho (@Synesyfe) November 11, 2019
I hope God receives Mr Allan Gray with open arms because he was one remarkable man. Some of our degrees were only possible because of him and his support. pic.twitter.com/JBGhhVFgdi
— Nokuhle Kumalo (@nokuhle_kumalo) November 11, 2019
Anyone who knows me knows how central this man’s philanthropy has been in shaping me. Thank you Allan Gray. Rest well. ??#ThankYouAllanGray pic.twitter.com/vCJMsdRIck
— S E A D I M O (@SeadimoTlale) November 11, 2019
Allan Gray gave me acces to spaces to which I never would’ve been exposed, had it not been for his generosity. I am forever grateful to the man I owe my tertiary education to ?? Rest In Peace Papa G
— Beth Boland (@mumjaara) November 11, 2019
*A Thread*This man was more than just a rich white man:This man manifested a vision into a reality that gave life and breath to the path I would create & walk.This is the human who is responsible for my education & the leader that I am today.#ThankyouAllanGray #allangray pic.twitter.com/syJdD8FeHQ
— Thando Gumede (@ThandoG_MTeto) November 11, 2019
You changed my life and mindset. You allowed me to freely and fiercely chase my dreams. Thank you #AllanGray pic.twitter.com/dPpIodI1t1
— Not Noma (@Zed_i) November 11, 2019